southwest macaroni & cheese.

my family devoured this tonight. my kids both loved it. even my picky husband had seconds {and maybe thirds}.

ingredients:
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup pepper jack or other peppered cheese
1 1/2 cups cooked corn
1/2 can diced green chiles {or more, if you like!}

directions:
cook & drain macaroni. in a medium saucepan, melt butter. blend in flour and then milk. cook and stir until sauce thickens. add salt, pepper, garlic powder & cheese. heat and stir until cheese is melted. add corn and green chiles. combine with macaroni. pour into casserole dish & sprinkle with more cheese. bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

serve with salsa & beans, or whatever else your heart desires.

[Cook Challenge: Fruits of Your Labors] Chicken Sausage Vegatable Pasta Primavera

This recipe comes from one of my favorite food blogs (other than this one) it's called real mom kitchen. She (Laura) has amazing recipes most of which are pretty simple to throw together. We are not huge vegetable eaters in this house, and this recipe is full of them. But this is by far one of my husbands new favorites and the only thing he has requested. The picture above is before you put it in the oven, and I don't have an after because we were starving! But here is the link to the original recipe. Her blog is definitely worth checking out. So delicious! And it most definitely falls under the cook challenge, since almost all the vegetables were grown from a garden.

• 1 medium zucchini, sliced
• 8 oz. fresh mushrooms, quartered (I left these out since we are not big mushroom fans)
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved (I have also used a can of diced tomatoes; Italian style)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium red or yellow pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• pepper to taste
• 1 (12 oz.) package Johnsonville Three Cheese Italian Style Chicken Sausage, slice at an angle (I used polska kielbasa sausage)
• 12 oz. linguine, uncooked

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper in a shallow baking pan.  Add the olive oil, salt, and pepper; toss to coat.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender and lightly brown; stir occasionally.
4. In the meantime, cook linguine according to package directions and drain.
5. After vegetables are soft, sprinkle sausage on top of vegetables and bake 5 more minutes or until sausage is heated.
6. Toss cooked pasta with the vegetable/sausage mixture,  sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve. 

Greek Orzo Salad

I have tried a few of Rachael Ray's Recipes and not really been too happy with them, but I found this one in her magazine last month and thought it sounded good.  Well, we weren't disappointed because it was really tasty.  I have made it two times, once with Chicken and Veggie Kebabs and most Recently along side some nice tasty grilled steaks.  It was a perfect compliment to both meals!  I didn't put as much celery as she said and I added grape tomatoes sliced in half to the salad.  It was better this way so I'm going to add it to the recipe. 

Greek Orzo Salad
Recipe by Rachael Ray
Serves 4 (served 4 adults and 3 kids with a little left over)

Ingredients:
Salt and Pepper
2 Small Lemons
3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 1/4 cups (8 oz.) of Orzo Pasta, which is Half of a bag.
2 full stalks of Fresh celery including the greens (the greens have a lot of flavor, chop them well though)
1 chunk (4 oz.) Feta Cheese (this is half a package from the store, but you can make the salad twice.  I love that.)
8 Kalamata Olives, oil packed with herbs (I used black olives because the kalamata's were pricy.  Plus I hate olives, no one seemed to care)


Directions:
Bring a pot of water to boil and add 2 tsp of salt.  Add the orzo to the boiling water and cook, stirring often, according to the directions on the package.  While the orzo is cooking, in the bowl you want to serve the salad in finely zest the 2 lemons.  Remember to not add the white part of the skin as it is bitter.  Add the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to the zest.  Mix well and set aside.


Slice the celery lenghtwise and then chop into small pieces, you should have about 1 cup.  Cut the grape tomatoes and olives in half.


When the orzo is cooked, drain it in a strainer and rinse well with cold water.  Add the cooled orzo to the bowl with the lemon oil and toss.  


To finish, add the cut veggies and crumble the feta cheese into the salad.  Gently toss the orzo to coat all the ingredients with the lemon oil and serve. 

Tortellini Soup

Thank you Katie Rammell for this wonderful recipe in our cookbook.  This soup is one of my favorites!  Plus I just LOVE tortellini.

ingredients

1 lb ground italian sausage

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 medium onion, chopped

3 cups beef broth

1/2 cup water

2 tomatoes, chopped (or 1 14oz can diced tomatoes)

3 large carrots, sliced

1 T oregano

1 3/4 c tomato paste

1 t parsley

1 bay leaf

1-2 zucchini, sliced

1 10-oz pkg. tortellini (I buy the frozen kind, with cheese inside!)

instructions
Brown sausage and drain.  Saute onion and garlic.  Add everything but zucchini and tortellini.  Simmer for a couple hours.  Add zucchini and tortellini 45 mins before serving.

crab salad.

this is just a basic salad recipe, but it's my favorite summer salad, so i thought i'd share. you can add or leave out vegetables as you prefer.

ingredients:
8 oz macaroni, cooked, rinsed
8 oz fake {or real!} crab meat, shredded
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, seeded, chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped
1/3 cup carrotts, coarsley shredded
cubed cheddar cheese {i add this per serving, not to the whole salad, so it doesn't get soggy if you have letftovers}
2-3 tbsp mayo or miracle whip {i prefer miracle whip}
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

directions:
combine all ingredients, refridgerate, and serve!

mizithra cheese pasta

This is one of my favorite meals from The Old Spaghetti Factory, delicious. So I decided I should try and make it myself, and it was crazy easy.

Ingredients:

spaghetti
mizithra cheese (found in the specialty cheese section of your grocery store)
butter
basil
salt and pepper

That's all! You cook the pasta, melt the butter in your frying pan, drain the pasta and put it in the frying pan. Then coat the pasta in the hot butter, put on a plate and put the shredded cheese right on top. Shred the cheese using the finer shredder. Sprinkle basil salt and pepper on top. Easy peasy.

I know I didn't put any measurements on the ingredients because I really just do it to taste. Just make sure you use plenty of butter (what's better than hot butter?), that's the key. Oh and plenty of cheese. Enjoy!

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese [Cook Challenge: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Cooking]

I know some might say mac and cheese...really? But this is so delicious you have to try it. Our sweet neighbor brought us in dinner one night, and this in now a family favorite at our house. Originally from OPRAH.com recipe created by Patti LaBelle.

ingredients:
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 pound elbow macaroni
8 TBSP butter + 1 TBSP butter
1/2 cup shredded Muenster cheese
1/2 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup (8 ounces) velveeta, cut into small cubes
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

directions:
preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a deep 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.

Bring a large pot of salted water just to a boil over high heat. Add oil, then elbow macaroni. Cook until the macaroni is just tender, about 7 min. Do not overcook. Drain well. Return to the pot.

Melt butter in a saucepan (or microwave) Stir into the macaroni. Then add half-and-half. In a large bowl mix muenster, cheddar, and monterey jack cheeses, and add 1 1/2 cups of the cheeses to the macaroni. As well as the cubed velveeta and the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the casserole dish. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and dot with 1 TBSP of butter. The sauce will be runny.

Bake until bubbling around the edges, about 35 minutes.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta [Cook Challenge: Redescovering the Lost Art of Cooking]

I love this recipe because it is totally forgiving.  If you want more, ham, add it! More chicken, bacon, done!  It's one of those give and take kind of recipes. 

Plus, I count this as my cooking from scratch because I make my own "afredo" sauce, and really, am I going to go kill the animals for meat? or make my own pasta....yeah..... :)

You Need: 

2-3 cooked, shredded chicken breasts

1 -2 cups chopped cooked ham (not lunch meat).  You can buy ham like this in a package or I usually have one of the boneless hams in my freezer I just cut up

1 jar bacon bits (or you can cook and crumble your own if you want!)

2 cups shredded mozzerella cheese ( I also throw in some grated parmesean)

approx 3 cups alfredo sauce (You can use WHATEVER kind you want, bottled, packaged, or make your own, I make my own so I'll include the recipe I use)

1 box cooked pasta, whatever kind you like, just not spaghetti noodles

To Do:

Cook the pasta and throw in into a big mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients, salt and pepper, toss all together.

Put it in a 9x13 dish

Top with some extra cheese (of course!)

Bake, covered with foil, in a 350 oven for approx 20 min. Remove foil and set oven to broil for maybe 5 min.  Watch it, just until the cheese on top begins to brown a little.

"Alfredo Sauce"
I put it in quotes because it's not really alfredo sauce, it's kind of a cheat.  Alfredo sauce can be really heavy so I try to save a little bit and I do it this way.

3 tbsp butter
6 tbsp flour
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups milk
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 c parm cheese
1/2 c mozzerella cheese

Make a roux by melting the butter in a saucepan first.  Once the butter is melted, throw in the flour, salt and pepper and using a whisk, whisk it together till it is combined.  It will probably be in clumps.  Whisk in the milk, slowly.  You have to whisk a lot so that those clumps dissolve into the milk.  Throw in the garlic powder and garlic salt.  Bring the mixture to a boil, continuing to whisk, or else you will end up with clumps.  Once the mixture begins to boil, it will start to thicken.  Once that happens,turn down the heat, and throw in the cheeses.  Adjust spices as  necessary.  If it is too thick, add a little more milk.  If it is too thin, let it simmer a little longer and throw in some more cheese.  Done!

five cheese ziti al forno.

i took really terrible pictures of the food, so i won't post them. this was the menu board for our olive garden dinner. my sister made the zuppa toscana which also turned out delicious!

{this recipe has a lot of cheeses... all of which can be found at smith's marketplace. it looks complicated, but it's really SUPER easy and very convenient that you can make two parts and put them in the fridge until you're ready to make dinner. it's great for a party or pot luck. says it serves 6-8, but it could serve 10 easily.}

for the ziti sauce
4 cups tomato sauce
2 cups alfredo sauce
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
3 tablespoons fontina cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon garlic pepper seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

for the ziti topping
3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons romano cheese, grated
3 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped

remaining ingredients
1 lb dry ziti pasta
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

directions
combining all ingredients for the ziti sauce in a large bowl; cover and refrigerate until ready to use. in a medium-size bowl, whisk together the first four ingredients for the ziti topping. add the garlic, oil, and parsley and mix until thoroughly blended. cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

when ready to prepare the whole dish: preheat oven to 375 degrees, spray a 13-by-9-inch baking dish or large casserole with non-stick spray. prepare the pasta according to package directions. Pour 1/2 cup of prepared ziti sauce into the prepared dish, and spread it evenly over the bottom using a spoon. when pasta has finished cooking, drain the water and pour the hot pasta into the bowl of remaining sauce. mix thoroughly; pour into the baking dish. spread 1 cup of shredded mozzarella over the pasta and sauce mixture. top the mozzarella with the prepared ziti topping, spreading evenly.

place pan on center oven rack and bake until top is golden brown and cheese is bubbling, about 30 to 40 minutes. remove and serve immediately.

lasagna rollups.

this recipe takes a little time, but it's so worth it!

ingredients:
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 jar {14 oz} tomato pasta sauce
1 egg
3/4 cup ricotta cheese {i used reduced fat}
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese {5 oz}
4 lasagna noodles {the recipe calls for frozen precooked noodles, but i just cooked mine the old-fashioned way}
1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves, washed, stems removed

directions:
heat oven to 350. in a skillet, cook beef and onion over medium-high heat until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently; drain. stir in 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce. remove from heat. spread 3 tbsp of remaining pasta sauce in bottom of square glass baking dish.

beat egg in medium bowl. add ricotta, Parmesan, oregano, and 3/4 cup of the mozzarella; mix well. spread 1/4 each of ricotta mixture, spinach leaves, and beef mixture over each lasagna noodle. loosely roll each noodle; place seam side down in baking dish. top rollups with remaining sauce. cover with foil.

bake 30-40 minutes, until bubbly and hot. remove foil; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. bake 2-4 minutes longer to melt the cheese. let stand 5 minutes before serving.

note:
the recipe says it serves 2 {2 rolls each} and it has a whopping 985 calories per serving! i ate one roll with a green salad on the side. i think the recipe easily serves 4.

friday at ariel's

tonight i tried a new recipe and it turned out very yummy.

ingredients:

2 slices bacon, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 lb lean ground beef

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives

1 can {14 oz} italian-style canned tomatoes, drained

1 can {8 oz} tomato sauce

1 tsp dried oregano leaves

1/2 tsp salt

crumbled feta cheese to top {if you're not a fan of feta, you could use parmesan or mozzarella}

directions:

in a 12-inch skillet, cook bacon and onion over medium heat until bacon is crisp, stirring frequently. add beef. cook until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring occasionally; drain. stir in olives, tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano and salt. reduce heat to medium-low. simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until hot. serve over cooked pasta; sprinkle cheese over top.

perfect side:

a simple green salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, and vinaigrette dressing.

Pasta Salad

This is fast and easy to throw together for any BBQ, in fact I usually have all the ingredients on hand.

ingredients:
1 package wacky mac noddles
1 can olives
1 package pepperoni
1 bottle Italian Dressing
Parmesan cheese

optional ingredients:
cubed cheddar cheese
broccoli (cut up small)

directions:
Boil noodles for about 10 min. drain and cool in the fridge. Then add as much or as little as you like of the above ingredients. I slice the pepperoni in 1/2 then 1/2 again, I also slice the olives. pour in Italian dressing and mix well, then sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Your done, enjoy!

Aunt Tina's Rigatoni

Okay, so this one isn't "quick" per say, but it's dang good and sometimes you just have to splurge and do a recipe that has more than 5 ingredients and takes longer than 20 minutes. This is worth it, and I highly recommend cooking the sauce the day before.

Also, one more thing: this cooks A LOT, so you can freeze half of the sauce - or just half the recipe.

ingredients:
1/2 pt. olive oil
1 bunch Parsley, chopped
5-6 cloves of Garlic, minced
1 T. Italian Seasoning
1 C. Water
1 lg. can Stewed Tomatoes, chopped
2 (10 oz) cans Tomato Paste
2 lbs. Spicy Sausage, without casing
Rigatoni Noodles, prepared

directions:
Pour olive oil in large sauce pan over medium heat. Add parsley (hint: don't let oil get hot before you add the parsley...because it will spit at you and ultimately burn.), garlic, and Italian Seasoning. Simmer until garlic starts to brown. Add water, tomatoes, and tomato paste, (fill each paste can will water and add to pot). Cook sausage in skillet and drain. Add to sauce and simmer several hours. Skim grease off top of sauce occasionally. Serve over cooked noodles.

Recipe note: For enhanced flavor, prepare the sauce the day before serving.

Skillet Parmigiana Chicken

Looooovvveee this. It's from Betty Crocker's Best Chicken Cookbook. And it just became a family favorite in the Catenzaro home. And the 2nd best thing (1st is taste) is that it's super easy to make.

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 lbs)

1/3 cup Italian-style dry bread crumbs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

2 cups spaghetti sauce

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (2 oz.)

Instructions

Flatten each chicken breast half to 1/4-inch thickness between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper. (OR you can just carefully cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally to make them thinner). Mix bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Dip chicken into egg, then coat with bread crumb mixture.

Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken in oil 10 to 15 minutes, turning once, until juice is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. Pour spaghetti sauce around chicken in saucepan; heat until hot. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over chicken.

Serve over spaghetti noodles.

Prep: 10 min / Cook: 15 min

Serves: 4